December 2011

MINNESOTA:
Northern Lights Broadcasting has announced that it'll be making big changes to KHTC/96.3 (Edina-Minneapolis) on New Year's Day. According to a press release posted on RadioInsight, the station will drop the "Now" Rhythmic Contemporary Hits format it's been running for nearly two years in favor of Adult Top 40 as "K-Twin," using the KTWN-FM callsign. Most of the new "K-Twin" target audience is too old to remember the previous incarnation of KTWN on 107.9, which ended in the early 1980's. The new format will be information-heavy with hourly newscasts from BringMeTheNews. The change, of course, comes shortly after the end of WLTE/102.9's longtime Adult Contemporary format, and K-Twin estimates 70 percent of the songs it'll play aren't currently heard on Twin Cities airwaves. (12/29/2011)

MINNESOTA:
The Worthington Daily Globe reports that all four commercial radio stations in Worthington will see major changes in the first week of the new year. The changes follow Radio Works' purchase of Three Eagles' three stations in Worthington, adding them to Radio Works' existing rimshot KUSQ/104.3 (Sibley, IA). As it turns out, KUSQ's Country format is the only one to survive completely, moving to the larger 100kW signal of KWOA-FM/95.1, which the paper reports will change callsign. 95.1 currently carries Classic Hits. The Daily Globe also reports KITN/93.5 will drop Adult Contemporary for `70s-`90s Rock as "Rockit," 104.3 will launch up a Contemporary Hits format as "The Party," and KWOA/730 will keep its flagship information programming in the morning but replace syndicated talk shows with Nostalgia later in the day. The move of the Country format to 95.1 will create new competition for Three Eagles' KLQL/101.1 (Luverne). (12/28/2011)

MINNESOTA:
The Duluth News Tribune reports that Alan Quarnstrom is selling his three Cloquet-area stations to the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, which also recently signed on non-commercial WGZS/89.1 (Cloquet). A purchase price was not reported but will likely be revealed in FCC filings. Band chairwoman Karen Diver tells the newspaper they'll continue to operate WKLK/1230 (Cloquet), WKLK-FM/96.5 (Cloquet), and WMOZ/106.9 (Moose Lake) commercially. The setup is similar to the Bois Forte Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, which operate two commercial radio stations in Ely and a non-comm at the Nett Lake reservation. Quarnstrom used to own a chain of stations in northeastern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin, but sold most of them to Red Rock Radio several years ago. He still owns several stations in the Red Wing area. (12/28/2011)

WISCONSIN:
The new News Director at a small northern Wisconsin TV station brings quite a bit of industry clout: John Quarderer is the new ND at NBC affiliate WJFW-TV/12.1 (Rhinelander), according to Rick Gevers' Weekly Newsletter. Quarderer worked at influential TV consultant Frank N. Magid Associates for the past twenty years, where he was Vice President of Research and Consultation Innovation. He worked at stations in California and Missouri for more than a decade before that. Such a resume is rare for a small station, but Quarderer is a native of Rhinelander and, according to Gevers, told friends he and his wife are excited to be back. WJFW is the only TV station in the small city of Rhinelander and competes with larger Wausau-based stations. (12/27/2011)

IOWA:
Clear Channel has amped up its Country battle with Cumulus Media in Cedar Rapids, moving the "Kiss Country" format to the 100kW signal of WMT-FM/96.5. "Kiss Country" launched nearly four years ago on rimshot signal KKSY/95.7 (Anamosa-Cedar Rapids), taking on Cumulus' heritage Country KHAK/98.1. The move to 96.5 ends WMT-FM's decades-old run in the Adult Contemporary/Hot Adult Contemporary genre. 96.5 had run Christmas music this season and music logs at yes.com indicate it returned to its former "Mix 96.5" format on Dec. 26 and before switching to Country at 7 a.m. the next day. Business 380 Magazine reports that 95.7 will simulcast with 96.5 until launching a new, unannounced format next year. (12/27/2011)

WISCONSIN:
NRG Media's WLJY/96.7 (Whiting-Wausau) has flipped to Contemporary Hits as "Hot 96-7," taking on Midwest Communications' heritage CHR WIFC/95.5 (Wausau). The flip came after a month of Christmas music and happened at Noon Tuesday (Dec. 27) after 90 minutes of songs featuring "Hot," according to the station's online music log. WLJY had been Hot Adult Contemporary "Mix 96-7," having tweaked from the original WLJY AC format that launched on 106.5 (Marshfield) and was moved to the weaker 96.7 signal in 2006. The flip leaves the Wausau-Stevens Point market without an AC or Hot AC station. (12/27/2011)

NEBRASKA:
As of Wednesday afternoon, Christmas music still continued at KTWI/93.3 (Bennington-Omaha), which abandoned its "Twister 93-3" format for "Jingle 93-3" earlier this month. The Christmas mix is heavy on Country artists. Stay tuned for a possible format change or tweak. (12/28/2011)

THE DEATH OF ADULT CONTEMPORARY?
What was once one of the top-rated formats in most markets around the country seems to be disappearing. The flip of longtime Adult Contemporary station WLTE/102.9 (Minneapolis) to Country may be an eye-opener for many, but Minneapolis is hardly the first market to lose the format. Appleton, Green Bay, Wausau, Duluth, and Omaha also lack mainstream AC outlets after flips in recent years. Where have the listeners gone? It appears formats including Contemporary Christian, Hot AC, Adult Alternative, and Variety Hits may have siphoned away bits of the former AC audience. It remains to be seen whether another station will flip to fill the void in Minneapolis. (12/27/2011)

MINNESOTA:
As previously reported, Minneapolis' 102.9 "Lite FM" became "Buz'n@102-9" after the end of Christmas music this year, switching from its longtime Adult Contemporary format to Country. The change came at 6 p.m. Christmas Day, which is fourteen hours earlier than CBS had previously announced. The flip includes a callsign switch from WLTE to KMNB -- similar to separately-owned, Regional Mexican-formatted KMNV/1400 (St. Paul). The WLTE callsign had been in use in Minneapolis since 1983 and has not yet been picked up by another station. (12/27/2011)

MANITOBA:
One new format has debuted in Winnipeg with another to come: CFJL-FM/100.7 emerged from a month of Christmas music as "The Breeze," a Light Adult Contemporary format in line with stations operated by owner Evanov Communications in other parts of Canada. Meanwhile, Corus Radio's CJGV-FM/99.1 was still playing Christmas music as of Monday evening but is expected to emerge with something in the Adult Contemporary genre. (12/27/2011)

MINNESOTA:
Rev. Grace Adam, co-founder of KNOF/95.3 (St. Paul), passed away Thursday, Dec. 22. Revs. Fred and Grace Adam founded the Christian station in 1960 and ran it until 2007, when Grace Adam transferred control of KNOF licensee Selby Gospel Broadcasting to North Central University. Funeral services will be held Friday, Dec. 30 at 1 p.m. at Willwerscheid & Peters Mortuary in St. Paul. (12/23/2011)

MINNESOTA:
KBEK/95.5 (Mora) won't be going off the air at the end of the year as some had feared. The station, which runs an information-intensive Oldies format, was originally slated to go silent on Sept. 30 but owner Colleen McKinney decided to keep it on the air for an extra three months while she sought a buyer. A message from McKinney posted on the station's website says a sale is pending and the station will stay on the air until the sale is finalized. McKinney did not reveal the buyer and couldn't guarantee that the new owner would keep the current format. (12/22/2011)

MINNESOTA:
Lamke Broadcasting is buying KOZY/1320 and KMFY/96.9 (Grand Rapids) from Itasca Broadcasting for $1.25 million. Lamke Broadcasting is owned by Jim and Colleen Lamke of Hill City and Itasca Broadcasting is owned by Cynthia Iaizzo of Grand Rapids whose husband, Michael, passed away last year. The asset purchase agreement includes a five-year non-compete clause for Iaizzo. The Lamkes have no other broadcast interests. KOZY carries an information-heavy Oldies format, while KMFY carries Adult Contemporary. (12/21/2011)

WISCONSIN:
Metro North Communications closed on its purchase of WMBE/1530 (New Holstein) from Maszka-Pacer Radio on Tuesday and plans to take the station off the air pending a transmitter move. Metro North president Mark Heller plans to apply to move the daytimer's transmitter, which is currently on the south side of Chilton, about five miles north to County Road E and upgrade from 250 Watts to 320 Watts. The move would improve WMBE's signal to Appleton and Oshkosh and fill in the null on Heller's other station, WGBW/1590 (Denmark-Green Bay). WMBE had most recently carried a Classic Country format. (12/21/2011)

IOWA:
Clear Channel's 95.7 "Kiss Country" (KKSY Anamosa-Cedar Rapids) has applied to move its transmitter five miles closer to Cedar Rapids. The move to a site near Springville could give the 6kW station a slightly better signal in Cedar Rapids, though it would remain significantly weaker than the city's core stations. (Here's the current coverage area and the proposed coverage area. KKSY would reduce its antenna height above average terrain from 100m to 91m with the move. (12/20/2011)

MINNESOTA:
CBS Radio announced Monday that WLTE/102.9 (Minneapolis) will drop its longtime Adult Contemporary format for Country as "Buz'[email protected]" at 8 a.m. on the day after Christmas. WLTE has been "Lite" for the past quarter-century. The new format will face off with Clear Channel's heritage Country "K102" (KEEY-FM St. Paul), which hasn't had a major-signal competitor since Clear Channel's predecessor bought "BOB 100 FM" and changed its format in 1997.

Meanwhile, the AC format will move to the HD2 signal of KZJK/104.1 (St. Louis Park-Minneapolis), displacing Smooth Jazz. Unless another station flips formats, the change will leave most Twin Cities listeners without a mainstream Adult Contemporary choice for the first time in decades. WLTE's announcement may spur more speculation about the future of "96.3 Now" (KHTC Edina-Minneapolis), which recently reserved the KTWN-FM callsign and associated domain names. (12/19/2011)

MINNESOTA:
Hubbard Broadcasting's KTMY/107.1 (Coon Rapids-Minneapolis-St. Paul) has added an HD signal and is carrying sister station "ESPN 1500" (KSTP) on its HD2 channel. KTMY carries the female-oriented "My Talk 107" on its primary channel. Hubbard's other Twin Cities FM, "KS95" (KSTP-FM/94.5 St. Paul), is not broadcasting an HD signal. (12/19/2011)

MINNESOTA:
Twin Cities Public Television is launching a temporary channel to carry Christmas music performances. Channel 2.99, originating from KTCI-DT (RF 23), will run from Dec. 19 through Dec. 31 featuring "music by Tonic Sol-fa, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and a variety of college choirs from the Twin Cities metro area, including Augsburg College, Concordia College, and Bethel University." The channel showed up a few weeks ago with test pattern and is already being carried by Comcast. TPT's announcement doesn't mention whether 2.99 will still be around after the new year or what it might carry. (12/18/2011)

NEBRASKA:
A format change may be underway in Omaha, where Clear Channel's KTWI/93.3 (Bennington-Omaha) has dropped its "Twister" Country format for Christmas music as "Jingle 93.3." Stations normally keep their regular identity when going all-Christmas unless they're making a change after the holiday. Music logs at yes.com indicate the switch from Contry to Christmas happened at 3 p.m. Friday, Dec. 16. (12/17/2011)

NORTH DAKOTA:
Montana-based "Your Network of Praise" has signed on its first station in North Dakota, KJND/90.7 (Williston). The network says on its website that it's hoping to reach the thousands of oil field workers who have converged on the region. The station signed on briefly earlier this year before an April storm damaged its equipment beyond repair. KJND uses 2kW at 175m from a tower about fifteen miles west of Williston. (12/16/2011)

IOWA:
"1600 ESPN" (KGYM Cedar Rapids) has added an FM translator in Iowa City and another one near Cedar Rapids may be coming soon. Owner KZIA, Inc. moved translator K292FZ/106.3 (Mount Vernon) to Iowa City, where it now uses 175 Watts carrying KGYM programming via the HD3 signal of KZIA/102.9 (Cedar Rapids). Iowa City gets a good signal from 1600 during the day but loses it at night when the station goes directional.

Meanwhile, translator K246BE/97.1 (Williamsburg) has applied to change its community of license to Cedar Rapids and specifies KZIA as the station to be rebroadcast. The translator, owned by Extreme Grace Media, would keep its current transmitter site between East Amana and Walford under the new application, but would move to 96.9 and upgrade from 62 to 165 Watts. Cedar Rapids would remain well outside the translator's main coverage area if the application is approved; translators are not required to provide city-grade service to their community of license. Extreme Grace Media is the former owner of KXGM-FM/89.1 (Hiawatha-Cedar Rapids) but retained K246BE after selling KXGM and other translators to the Educational Media Foundation. (The translator is still officially K249EL in FCC records pending the license to cover the facility to be known as K246BE.) (12/15/2011)

WISCONSIN:
Acme Communications is selling CW affiliate WBUW/57.1 (Janesville-Madison) to Byrne Acquisition Group, LLC for $1.8 million. Acme expects the transaction to close in the second quarter of 2012. Byrne's only other holding is a low-power independent TV station in South Carolina. Acme, which recently sold the Green Bay CW affiliate, still owns the CW/MyNetworkTV operation in Albuquerque and produces the syndicated morning news/lifestyle program "The Daily Buzz." (12/14/2011)

WISCONSIN:
Two Christian broadcasters have a proposal to bring their applications for new FM stations in northern Wisconsin back to life, but not everyone involved agrees with the idea. The dispute stems from 18 overlapping applications for new non-commercial stations in northern Wisconsin and Michigan's Upper Peninsula filed in 2007. This fall, the FCC awarded the UW System (Wisconsin Public Radio) a construction permit for a new station on 89.1 in Niagara. Subsequently, four of the other applicants reached a settlement agreement whereby two applicants, Christian Vision and WRVM, Inc., would withdraw and another two, Lakeland Seventh-Day Adventist Church and Northwoods Catholic Radio, would modify their applications so as to not overlap with one another. The two remaining applicants would pay Christian Vision $4,000 and WRVM $5,000 to cover their legal and engineering expenses.

The proposed settlement agreement prompted a petition to deny from the Milewski Nature Fund, which had applied for a new station in Thorp. Milewski says it was not a party to the discussions and that the settlement agreement should therefore be thrown out. Northwoods had argued in an earlier petition that Milewski prevented other applicants from entering into a settlement agreement.

Lakeland proposes a station on 88.7 in Minocqua and Northwoods proposes a station on 89.1 in Rhinelander. The settlement agreement gives WRVM the right of first refusal to purchase either of the new stations if Lakeland or Northwoods plans to sell unless Radio 74 Internationale wants to buy the Lakeland station. It also compels Lakeland to try to convince Radio 74 Internationale to sell its Minocqua translator to WRVM if the new station is granted. (12/14/2011)

IOWA:
Low-power FM station KJAS-LP/94.1 (Ames) has applied to move to 101.7, saying it's requesting the move because of interference from KRNA/94.1 (Iowa City) and two LPFM stations in Des Moines. However, on 101.7, KJAS could face interference from a 250-Watt translator in Des Moines, which is more powerful than the two LPFM's on 94.1. KPUL-FM/99.5 (Winterset-Des Moines) also has a pending application to move to 101.7. KJAS is owned by the Ames Chinese Ministry Association. (12/14/2011)

WISCONSIN:
WTDY/1670 (Madison) has added an FM simulcast of its News/Talk/Business format on WTDY-FM/106.7 (Mount Horeb). The switch happened at Midnight Tuesday morning (Dec. 13). WTDY-FM is formerly WWQN and most recently simulcast the Country format of WWQM/106.3 (Middleton-Madison); all three are owned by Mid-West Management. 106.7's signal isn't strong in Madison, but the addition improves WTDY's coverage in areas west of Madison that are included in the Arbitron-defined market area and also gives car radio listeners an FM option in Madison. WTDY-FM is 106.7's fifth format in the six years it's been on the air: the station launched in 2005 with a few months of Smooth Jazz followed by a simulcast of the now-defunct "Lake" Classic Hits format. It switched to a Hip-Hop/R&B as "Jamz" in early 2007 when another Madison rimshot dropped the format. "Jamz" was so successful it replaced the primary "Lake" signal on 93.1 (WJQM De Forest-Madison) in late 2008, leading 106.7 to switch to the WWQM simulcast. (12/13/2011)

MINNESOTA:
Three Angels Broadcasting Network has converted its Minneapolis low-power TV station to digital, bringing another three TV and three audio channels to the Twin Cities TV dial. The station had formerly operated on analog channel 14. Now, it's digital channel 33 with 3ABN's main network on 33.1, 3ABN Prophecy on 33.2, 3ABN Latino on 33.3, 3ABN Radio on 33.4, Radio 74 Internationale on 33.5, and 3ABN Latino Radio on 33.6. The new K33LN-D uses 15kW, the maximum power allowed to LPTV stations. Households which can receive all of the Twin Cities' LPTV stations can now receive fourteen Christian TV channels, plus two duplicates and three audio-only channels. The metro now has a total of 34 digital TV channels, not including duplicates or audio-only channels. Meanwhile, two analog signals remain on the air: Univision on channel 13 and Home Shopping Network on channel 43. (12/12/2011)

IOWA:
New station KQLF/88.3 (Ottumwa) is on the air. "Lift FM," owned by Spirit in Sound Broadcasting, is the first local Christian station in Ottumwa and carries contemporary praise and worship music and some teaching programs. The station uses 1.4kW/44m and has received listener reports from as far away as Oskaloosa and Centerville. Spirit in Sound bought the construction permit from the University of Northern Iowa for $3,750. (UNI and Iowa State University signed on two other stations in recent years carrying Iowa Public Radio.) (12/9/2011)

MINNESOTA/WISCONSIN:
A new AM station may be coming to the Twin Ports: The FCC has granted Kermit A. Carlson a construction permit for a new station on 1560 licensed to the Village of Superior. The new station will use 5kW day and 4kW night from a six-tower directional array in a wetland area a few miles north of Pattison State Park, delivering a city-grade signal to Superior and Duluth day and night. To get the permit approved, Carlson submitted a 280-page environmental assessment showing the site was appropriate for the towers and has no religious or cultural signifigance to Native Americans. Carlson is from Batavia, IL and owns no other stations. (12/8/2011)

IOWA:
The FCC has denied an application to move an FM station into the Cedar Rapids market nearly five years after the application was filed. KM Communications' KQMG-FM/95.3 (Independence) had applied to move to Solon on 95.1. The FCC said it dismissed the application because KM did not provide needed environmental impact paperwork. (12/7/2011)

MICHIGAN/NORTH DAKOTA/SOUTH DAKOTA:
It turns out dozens of Trinity Broadcasting Network low-power TV stations which went off the air last year, including four in the Upper Midwest, will never return. TBN had agreed to donate the stations to the Minority Media Telecommunications Council, but the MMTC cautioned it would not be able to accept the donations if it couldn't find groups to operate the stations. More than a year later, the FCC has dismissed the license transfer applications and deleted the licenses for W17CS (Marquette, MI), K49FF (Grand Forks, ND), K43GX (Madison, SD), and K31DP (Yankton, SD). (12/7/2011)

SOUTH DAKOTA:
Agnus Dei Communications is buying KAJF/88.5 (Ipswich) from Church Planters of America for $45,000. Agnus Dei had an earlier deal with Church Planters of America to buy a construction permit for a new station licensed to Elk Point, but a change in the rules prevented the deal from being completed. KAJF was off the air at last report and is currently licensed for just 100 Watts, but has a construction permit to move to 88.9 and upgrade to 100kW/128m from a tower near Mina, which would add coverage of Aberdeen. Agnus Dei is headed by former commercial broadcaster Kevin Culhane and plans Catholic programming from EWTN, Relevant Radio, and other sources. Church Planters of America owns a station in Watertown and has CP's for new stations in Chamberlain and Tulare. (12/6/2011)

ONTARIO/MINNESOTA:
The major Minneapolis TV stations are getting some added coverage north of the border. Canadian regulators have approved Shaw Cable's application to switch the source of its big-four U.S. programming in Thunder Bay to Minneapolis. Online listings indicate WCCO-CBS and KARE-NBC were already being carried in Thunder Bay, with KSTP-ABC, KMSP-FOX, and KTCI-PBS set to replace feeds from Detroit and Rochester, NY. Shaw told the CRTC that a customer survey indicated a preference for Minneapolis over Detroit. WCCO and KARE are already carried by most other cable systems in northwestern Ontario and Manitoba. The Thunder Bay system had originally carried Duluth stations but switched to Detroit satellite feeds in 1986 because of problems receiving the Duluth stations over the air. In addition to Canadian channels, all Canadian cable and satellite providers carry the big four networks from the U.S. plus PBS. (12/6/2011)

MINNESOTA:
The first of potentially three AM-on-FM translators has signed on in St. Cloud. K277BS/103.3 is now on the air relaying the News/Talk format of KNSI/1450. Though it's still officially licensed to Brainerd, K277BS transmits from the KNSI tower in St. Cloud with 250 Watts. KNSI is owned by Leighton Enterprises while K277BS is still owned by Radio Assist Ministry, which moved the translator down from Brainerd in a series of hops. Another company, Blue Wing, LLC, has applied to move two translators to St. Cloud from Hinckley to relay AM stations owned by Tri-County Broadcasting. (12/5/2011)

SOUTH DAKOTA:
The northern Black Hills could soon get an AM-on-FM translator. Spearfish Radio, Inc. is seeking a waiver from the FCC to move K216AO/91.1 (Spearfish) to 105.9 so it can be used to relay KBHB/810 (Sturgis). The translator's power would drop from 46 Watts to 5 Watts. K216AO cannot be used to relay a commercial station on 91.1 since it's in the non-commercial band. A waiver is needed because major changes to translators are not currently allowed, and minor changes would only allow a move within .6 MHz or to an IF frequency 10.6 or 10.8 MHz away. The existence of KFMH/101.9 (Belle Fourche) blocks an IF move. Spearfish Radio bought K216AO from South Dakota Public Broadcasting after SDPB signed on new station KYSD/91.7 (Spearfish) to replace the translator. It owns two other translators in Spearfish relaying Rapid City stations owned by Schurz Communications, the owner of KBHB. The FM translator would have a tiny coverage area compared with KBHB's 25kW daytime signal, which reaches portions of five states with a Farm/Country format. (12/5/2011)

WISCONSIN:
W250BN/97.9 (West Allis) has been on the air for about a week relaying Wisconsin Public Radio's WHAD/90.7 (Delafield). W250BN, owned by Radio Power, Inc., currently transmits from Muskego and has applied to move to the Milwaukee antenna farm. As earlier reported, the Milwaukee Free Radio Group is fighting the application, stating that it isn't allowed under a recent FCC decision calling translator "hops" an abuse of process. (12/5/2011)

NEBRASKA:
KOHA-LP/48 (Omaha) has returned to the air carrying Daystar. The station is in analog for now but has a construction permit to flash-cut to digital. (12/5/2011)

MINNESOTA:
There are signs that a format change may be coming to the Twin Cities. As first reported by RadioInsight, Northern Lights Broadcasting took action on Dec. 1 to reserve the KTWN-FM callsign for its KHTC/96.3 (Edina), which currently carries a Rhythmic Hits format as "96.3 Now." Northern Lights has also reserved several "K-Twin" domain names. The callsign and moniker were previously used in the Twin Cities market until the early 1980s. 96.3 switched to the "Now" format at the beginning of 2010 shortly after moving its transmitter from near Waconia to New Hope, and had carried Hip-Hop/R&B as "B96" throughout the 2000's. Northern Lights also changed its Glencoe station (AM 1310) to KTWN over the summer. (12/2/2011)